Corbyn to stand against Labour as Independent candidate

Jeremy Corbyn is set to stand against Labour as an Independent candidate at the UK general election.

The former UK Labour leader (74), who was suspended from the parliamentary party in a row over antisemitism, is expected to announce he will contest Islington North, the north London seat he has held for more than 40 years.

The move will come as a headache to current leader Keir Starmer, who has banned his predecessor from standing for the party.

The announcement came after he failed to apologise for his handling of antisemitism within the party.

Afterwards, Mr Corbyn said he had “no intention of stopping” fighting for his constituents in the seat he has represented since 1983.

Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent MP since 2020, after Mr Starmer suspended him from Labour after he said the scale of antisemitism within the party had been “dramatically overstated” by Labour’s opponents.

Labour has not yet selected a candidate to run in Islington North, where Mr Corbyn secured a huge majority of 26,188 at the 2019 general election.

The size of his majority makes Islington North one of the safest Labour seats in the country, and friends of the former leader believe he can win again.

Labour has shortlisted Sem Moema, a member of the London Assembly, and Praful Nargund, an Islington councillor, in the contest to be the party’s election candidate in the seat.

Former BBC journalist Paul Mason was among those who failed to make the final shortlist.

Labour has said the winner of the selection process is due to be announced on June 1.

At the time of his suspension, Labour said Mr Corbyn had been suspended for “a failure to retract his words”, but he called the move “political”.

Mr Starmer has also been urged to let Mr Corbyn’s ally Diane Abbott back into Labour’s ranks in the UK parliament after he welcomed Tory defector Natalie Elphicke.

Ms Elphicke, who criticised Labour’s policy on immigration and was condemned for remarks she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault, has said she will not stand at the election. (© The Independent)